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What if parking spaces were people spaces? Ann Arbor celebrates PARK(ing) Day

Park(ing) Day 2013University of Michigan graduate students Jenny Cooper and Arielle Fleisher transformed a parking spot on State Street near Liberty Street on Friday into a temporary-mini park for PARK(ing) Day, asking the question: What if parking spaces were people spaces?

University of Michigan graduate students Jenny Cooper and Arielle Fleisher asked that question Friday as they transformed a parking spot on State Street in downtown Ann Arbor into a temporary mini park for PARK(ing) Day.

People gather in a temporary mini park on State Street on Friday as part of PARK(ing) Day.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

"The basic premise is to get people to think differently about our streets," said Fleisher, an urban planning and public health graduate student. "What if we designed our streets not just for cars, but for people?"

PARK(ing) Day is an annual worldwide event during which artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks.

It's intended to showcase the potential and positive effects of having people-oriented street design and places for people to gather.

Ann Arbor last participated in PARK(ing) Day in 2010 when community members outfitted a parking spot with a teeter-totter.

Cooper and Fleisher opened their park at 11:30 a.m. Friday and said they planned to keep it open until 5 p.m.

When The Ann Arbor News visited in the early afternoon, more than a dozen people were socializing, relaxing and enjoying lunch on the fake turf.

Sandwiches and cookies were provided by The Lunch Room, a vegan restaurant in Kerrytown. Downtown Home and Garden and the Produce Station donated supplies to help outfit the park. And the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority gave its blessing by bagging the spot's meter for the day.

People gather in a temporary mini park on State Street on Friday as part of PARK(ing) Day.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Intrigued to see people hanging out in a spot normally occupied by automobiles, Ann Arbor resident Tom Lyon stopped to inquire. That led to a discussion about a perceived lack of open space in downtown Ann Arbor.

"Green space is totally lacking downtown," he said. "If you want to get a sandwich and sit in a park, there's that little park on Liberty, but it's very small and it's mostly concrete.

"And the one obvious other place for a park would be where the city has built the underground parking lot, but it seems like the city has designed things in a way that it's impossible to make that green."

Cooper, a natural resources and business graduate student, said she hopes to see more creative uses of public space in Ann Arbor.

"I would love to see a parklet more permanently, but I'd also love to have this event every year and have people coming together, changing things up, doing things different from the status quo now and then," she said. "It's good for the soul."

Fleisher agreed.

"A lot of cities actually run parklet programs — Seattle, San Francisco, New York — and they set up permanent parks in parking spots," she said. "We would love to do this on a more permanent scale and get more green spaces in Ann Arbor."

In addition to the popular mini park on State Street, a handful of merchants along South University Avenue made creative use of the metered parking spaces outside their stores on Friday, while at the same time promoting their businesses.

Beth Karmeisool, owner of the Safe Sex Store, transformed a parking spot into a safe sex education center in partnership with Lauren Bacans, a Planned Parenthood field organizer. The store's mascot, a yellow lab named Jake, stood guard.

View full sizeCooper and Fleisher had those who visited their park write down what their ideal Ann Arbor would include. They plan to submit the responses to the DDA.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

"We're letting people know that we provide free HIV testing every Thursday, and then we're doing it in a fun interactive way by answering questions in balloons (that you pop with a dart)," Karmeisool said. "And then everyone gets a free safer sex kit."

Cooper and Fleisher had those who visited their park write down what their ideal Ann Arbor would include. They plan to submit the responses to the DDA.

Answers tacked up on a bulletin board included more bike racks, more bike lanes, fewer pharmacies, more bike parking in garages, more pedestrian infrastructure (i.e. pedestrian malls), State Street as a pedestrian-only street, more public spaces where you're not expected to buy something, separate bike lanes painted green and better pavement, and green space in the downtown core.